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Summer is here!

Wow, that was one of the fastest months ever, in my opinion. Memorial Day weekend came and went in a blink of an eye, so it must be the height of the dynamic spring market! Median days on the market in Northern Virginia is just 8; the average days on the market is 42. So, houses are virtually selling immediately (often with multiple offers) or they are taking a little while longer to sell. Right now, we are seeing very demanding
buyers in the marketplace. If the house is priced a little high or isn’t updated or staged, they are getting a lot of activity in the first week, but then showings fall off tremendously after that time frame.

So, what is fueling all the activity? There are a few factors, first there is a lot of demand – in certain price points, more on this shortly. Second, interest rates are still great – right around 4% for a 30-year fixed mortgage. Some people are taking advantage of adjustable rate mortgages too. Third, we continue to experience a strong local job market with many people relocating into the area for this reason. Fourth, prices are beginning to increase slightly, so many people are wanting to buy while it is still affordable for them to do so. Lastly, people have equity in their homes and can sell today to move into a larger home or closer to the city to reduce their commute. This is all good news for both buyers and sellers!

What is the situation with pricing I mentioned earlier you ask? The under $500,000 price point for houses and townhouses is on fire, representing a great majority of the median days on market. Yet, homes priced in the $650,000 -$800,000 range outside of the beltway are slow which is causing an increase on the average days on the market number. The upper price points (above $800,000) are seeing activity and sales which is always good for our local market.

I expect to see more of this type of activity and sales at least through the 4th of July. So, if you are considering selling or buying a home, please feel free to call me to discuss your situation in more detail.

Wow, 2015 flew by in a blink of an eye and I am sure 2016 will as well. As I mentioned in my previous market updates, we pretty much enjoyed a stable market for housing in 2015. I expect things to pick up in 2016 because of all the recent activity. Many of our agents have been working through the holidays with clients and I too have been meeting with both buyers and sellers looking to make moves in 2016 – more so than any other recent December. So buckle up, the market will be moving forward in a positive direction.

A few areas in the mortgage arena for us to keep our eyes on are rising interest rates and loan products. Now that the Fed has raised their rate, mortgage interest rates are now just above 4%. Still great, don’t get me wrong, but they are just a tad higher than where they have been most of 2015. The other interesting thing to watch with mortgages are the new programs coming into the market. Fannie Mae now has a low down payment loan to compete with FHA loans. These loans compete because the down payment can be a gift so buyers don’t need to have their own money saved for the down payment. Additionally, I have read there are potentially no down payment loans coming back into the market soon. These two loan products could help Millennial buyers enter the market sooner as they have not been able to save for their down payments due to high rents, student loan debt and lower paying jobs. This is important because Millenials will be the largest home buying demographic once they can afford to buy.

Something else to watch is as sales continue to rise, prices too will follow – hopefully at a sustainable rate and not like the San Francisco market or our market from 2002-2006. Home ownership is extremely important to wealth building and consistent growth in prices help this happen for many people. We don’t need an escalating housing price market like we had in the past, as no one wins in the end. I would expect a 3-5% increase in housing overall in Northern Virginia. Some areas will see more, others less, so please ask me about your home’s value if you are interested.

As always, if you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a home, I am here to help so please feel free to call me. Here is to making 2016 one of your best years ever! Happy New Year!

Leaves are falling and so is our inventory of homes for sale in Northern Virginia. It is typical that homeowners who don’t need to sell or don’t have to sell take their homes off the market this time of year. Along with the falling leaves and inventory, house sales are also falling – again, typical for this time of year. Many potential homebuyers take a break over the holiday in anticipation of the spring market.

All this being said, there are sales happening in the marketplace. Year over year sales are up in Northern Virginia as are sales prices making our housing market healthy. If you have a situation which causes you to sell, now is a good time to do so. With lower inventory levels and serious buyers in the market you can set your house apart from the competition to attract a sale. Couple this with mortgage interest rates remaining low adds to the allure of home ownership right now.

On an interesting note, the SEC passed a ruling – Title III – which will allow retail investors to have access to invest in private businesses without that company having to register with the SEC. This could have an impact on real estate as Equity Crowdfunding is a $2.5 Billion market. These are groups that are forming to purchase properties and rent them out or fix and flip them. This ruling goes into effect in 90 days and it won’t transform real estate overnight but it is something for us to keep an eye on moving forward. To learn more about this, please feel free to call me 703-652-5777.

Oh, and we cannot forget, it is that time of year again, when the holiday season comes into full swing! We have Thanksgiving right around the corner followed by Christmas and New Year’s Day – lots of time to spend with family and friends. We wish you a happy time this season and hope you have a great holiday season. And always remember, if you have any questions or concerns about real estate, we are here to help!

Wow, November really flew by this year. It’s hard to believe that December is here already. At this rate, when we blink it will be a New Year. This being said, with December comes reflection and projection.

Let’s reflect, this year, what resonates with me is that it was odd to say the least. Looking back, for the real estate business it has been especially challenging. We have not had a year where we couldn’t predict the market because there were no trends that lead the way for us. The harsh winter weather carried into May so there was no momentum from a spring market to carry us into the summer months. We had overly choosy buyers, rising inventory, fewer first time buyers, fewer investors, more inventory coupled with more days on the market plus even more. You name it, it happened and we couldn’t predict what would happen next. What we did have this year were very low interest rates – stable house prices – inventory was plentiful but nowhere near historic highs yet we had a “different” year. In a year where buyers should have been coming out of the wood work, they stayed on the fence. There are many in the business happy to see an end to this year from a business perspective.

So, let’s talk about next year. We are expecting a strong spring market based upon what our top producing agents are talking about in our mastermind meetings. Many of them have buyers ready to buy homes, they have realistic sellers ready to put their homes on the market and rates will remain low through the spring market. We hit a low in first time buyers last year that we haven’t seen since 1987 but there are financing changes upcoming with lower down payment requirements and changes in regulations relaxing the tight underwriting standards we have had recently. These revisions will make first time buyers and Millenials a viable option that will help revive the housing market in the lower price points that will help the market flow up stream. We expect that the month’s supply of homes will remain between 3.5 – 4.5 months so sellers will need to be patient. Overall, we are optimistic that the real estate market will be strong in 2015.

Have a fantastic, safe and relaxing holiday season with your family and friends. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns about your situation, feel free to call me.

Unlike the weather, the real estate market is HOT!

Interest rates remain low so buyers are buying homes and jobs in the DC Metro area continue to be created so people are looking for housing in our market. We expect this trend to continue for the next several months. Sellers are in the proverbial driver seat if they do the right things to their property before putting it on the market. If you are considering selling your house, read more below…

As I mentioned, right now our biggest issue is finding houses to sell. We currently have 3,850 properties for sale in all of Northern Virginia – down from a high of the last year when we had 6,005 in the second week of October. That is a 36% decrease in houses for sale in just 3 months. We expect more properties to come on the market as the ice and snow melt, as well as, into the spring market but we have a lot of people looking so I don’t see that it will have a huge impact in regards to our inventory level moving forward.

The low inventory situation has resulted in multiple contracts on properties that are in great shape, priced well and show well. As properties come on the market that are in the same situation, they too will have multiple contracts. Therefore, buyers need to be prepared. We have developed a strategy to help buyers position their contracts to win when in competitive situations – check out my blog to learn more – www.scottymacsblog.com simply search for multiple contracts or click the link here. Sellers need to seek our advice when selling so we can help stage the house, give direction on what improvements/repairs need to be made and to price the home properly so they can take advantage of the market.

As always, I am available to answer any questions you may have in regards to your personal situation so feel free to contact me anytime.

Real Estate is more than just showing houses. Learn how to take advantage of inclement weather, snow days, and how to build your relationships and business as winter storm “Janus” pushes her way through the Midwest and up the east coast.
Scott MacDonald, Broker/Owner/President of RE/MAX Gateway mentors and offers practical advice to real estate agents. Want to learn more? Contact Scott MacDonald (703) 652-5777 scottmacdonald@remax.net to learn more about how to be your best as an entrepreneur in the real estate world. Read more at https://scottymacsblog.com/

Wow, where did September go? It was a very interesting month – kids went back to school, football season started, the weather has changed, the housing market remained strong and the government shut down for the first time in 17 years.

It will be interesting to see how the stock market reacts to the government shutdown, what the impact will be on rates, the housing market and how long it lasts. If it is a quick shut down, we will probably see little reaction in the stock market and as a result, rates and the housing market. If it is a prolonged shutdown of a few weeks or more, the stock market will have a negative reaction, rates will rise as bond yields decrease and we could see a loss of momentum in the housing sector of the economy. What will happen to government backed loans in process and how will it affect settlements? None of these are helpful to our economy since the housing recovery leads the economic recovery as a whole. At this time, it appears as if this could last longer than just a day or two so let’s get prepared for a rocky economic road the next few weeks.

Let’s talk about the real estate market in September. We did see a pickup in sales over last year in Northern Virginia. Inventory increased slightly which gave buyers more choices. As inventory increased, distressed properties made up a lower percentage of this increase which is great for home owners. New home sales continue their strong pace of sales. Interest rates came back down as the government eased off their threat of reducing their purchasing of mortgage backed securities and we still see multiple contracts on properties in certain price points and locations.

All in all, September was a good month for Northern Virginia real estate. We need this trend to continue, so let’s hope the shutdown gets resolved more quickly than it appears it will.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to call me directly (703) 652-5777

Big changes are on the forefront for Virginia real estate if you are selling or buying a house. The state Grantor’s Tax is going from $1.00 per thousand to $2.50 per thousand of the sales price or tax assessed value, whichever is higher on July 1, 2013. Here is the impact – on a sales price of $500,000 the fee is going to go from $500 to $1,250

The tax is typically paid by the seller in a resale scenario and the builder usually passes this fee on to the buyer. As a result, it has become a nominal cost associated with selling to one of a greater impact and one that will potentially bring attention to people on both sides of the table. In other states, including Maryland, this tax is absorbed by the seller with first time buyers, is split in most cases but in the end, is a negotiable item between the seller and buyer. It will be interesting to see if this becomes the case in Virginia. Our fee is less than Maryland’s but is still is significant enough to take notice and pay attention to what will be the impact as it becomes implemented and the prices increase.

The change goes into effect on July 1st so you will want to plan accordingly. This year July 1st falls on a Monday so in order to avoid paying the tax, we are encouraging our clients to close by the 26th of June. This will ensure the property gets recorded at the courthouse prior to the Friday rush that many title companies are expecting and save your money.

Many of you may recall that back in January of 2008, this tax went up 5 times so the same scenario listed above would have resulted in a $2,500 tax on the sale of properties in Virginia. Therefore, this increase is not as significant. In March of that year the Supreme Court of Virginia repealed the tax stating a transportation authority NVTA did not have the right to levy taxes.

The additional fees today are also put in place to cover costs associated with transportation initiatives and road improvements in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads in an effort to ease the congestion in these regions. As such, this tax is only applicable to these regions. Let’s see some results, please.

Scott MacDonald, President of RE/MAX Gateway invites you to the 8th Annual PUTT A THON & Family Fun Night! All proceeds benefit Youth For Tomorrow. Please join us Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 2-6pm at our RE/MAX Gateway office in the Brambleton Town Center for this fun-filled time and certain to bring out the kid-at-heart in all of us!